Field of Invention
This invention in general relates to plants and plant parts and in particular to enhancing secondary metabolites and nutrients in plants and plant parts.
Related Art
Plants often selectively absorb and accumulate micro and macro-nutrients from the place where it is growing such as soil, water, substrate, hydroponics and other sources. Lesser amount of micro and macro nutrients in sources/soil not only affects its accumulation in plant/plant parts but also affects both primary and secondary metabolism in plants.
Often deficiency in nutrients in the source is due to varied geographical conditions and prolonged usage of same source (for example, agricultural fields) without any replenishment causing changes in composition of nutrients in the soil. Such deficiency often results in lesser uptake of nutrients by the plants and plant parts. Such deficiency in uptake may result in various undesirable results. For example, such deficiency may result in lesser accumulation of desired nutrients in the fruits and vegetables produced by the plants/plant parts.
In general, plants have an ability to synthesize and accumulate secondary metabolites for its defence purposes, combat stress and aid pollination. These secondary metabolites synthesized and accumulated by plant parts are often used for medicinal, nutritive and cosmetic purposes. Often plants and plant parts are processed to extract these accumulated secondary metabolites. It is therefore desirable to produce the plant/plant part with higher nutrients and secondary metabolites in order increase the processing yield.
According to one aspect of the present invention, secondary metabolites in plants and/or in parts of plants are enhanced by inducing stress condition within the plant.
Another aspect of the present invention, nutrients and metabolites are simultaneously enhanced in a plants or plants part. In an embodiment of the present invention, secondary metabolites and or nutrients in a plant or plant parts are enhanced by growing the plants/plants part in a formulated solutions comprising of natural preservatives, target nutrients and elicitors individually or in combination.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a product of the process is used as source of macro and micro-nutrient with higher levels of secondary metabolites for cosmetic, nutritional, pharmaceutical and therapeutic functions.
Further, in yet another aspect, nutrients are enhanced in plants and plant parts thereby providing natural and bio-available sources.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides cosmetic, nutritional, pharmaceutical and therapeutic products derived from natural source of phytochemicals and nutrients obtained from above technique.
According to another aspect of the present invention, metabolites and nutrients are extracted together or individually. Several aspects of the invention are described below with reference to examples for illustration. It should be understood that numerous specific details, relationships, and methods are set forth to provide a full understanding of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art, however, will readily recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, etc. In other instances, well-known structures or operations are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the features of the invention.